Learning Joomla! 1.5 Extension Development: Creating Modules, Components, and Plugins with PHP [Paperback]

Joseph L. LeBlanc (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2007

A rapid and easy-to-follow introductory tutorial to help you use PHP code to create your first Joomla! extensions: modules, components, and plugins. This book is suitable for PHP programmers who want to take their first step in customizing and extending the features of Joomla! through custom PHP development. It is not a reference guide for advanced Joomla! developers. You need only the basics of PHP programming; no experience of developing Joomla! extensions is assumed. You are expected to be familiar with the general operation of Joomla!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Joseph L. LeBlanc started with computers at a very young age. His independent education gave him the flexibility to experiment and learn computer science. Joseph holds a bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems from Oral Roberts University. Joseph is currently a freelance Joomla! extension developer. He released a component tutorial in May 2004, which was later translated into French, Polish, and Russian. Work samples and open-source extensions are available at www.jlleblanc.com. In addition to freelancing, he is a board member of the DC PHP Conference. He has also worked as a programmer for a web communications firm in Washington, DC.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Packt Publishing; 1st edition (June 12, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847191304
• ISBN-13: 978-1847191304
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,008,788 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Eh, too little for the pricetag, October 9, 2007

By 

Gary A. Mort (Astoria, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Learning Joomla! 1.5 Extension Development: Creating Modules, Components, and Plugins with PHP (Paperback)

At half the cost of a comprehensive book, I expected a good bit of detail on development.

This book doesn't demonstrate much beyond what you can get from the demo's online already. And it doesn't provide any hidden gems of knowledge or tips of any sort.

All in all, a disappointment and a waste of money

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not really helpful, July 14, 2008

By 

Rudolf Jan Heijink "Rudolf Jan Heijink" (Netherlands) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning Joomla! 1.5 Extension Development: Creating Modules, Components, and Plugins with PHP (Paperback)

At first sight this book looks great. It is concise and gives a good introduction from the start to build Joomla extensions. It does not waste pages explaining how to program in SQL and PHP. You are supposed to have mastered that. The book has a major weak point. For the main part it just shows lots of code, but does not explain anything about the API classes and how they relate. After reading the book and trying to create your own extension, it feels like you have not understood anything really.

A second drawback is that the author seems not to bother about testing the sample code. It contains several very obvious bugs, eg using a functou JOutputFilter instead of JFilterOutput. This is annoying.

Summarized, the book may give you a small start but is insufficient for seriuous development. The sad thing is that the official Joomla documentation is in a very alpha stage of development.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not much content for the price!, February 26, 2008

By 

jimbo (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning Joomla! 1.5 Extension Development: Creating Modules, Components, and Plugins with PHP (Paperback)

I certainly agree with those who said this book is way too sparse, weighing in at 176 non-packed pages. For the same audience this book is intended for I would instead recommend "Professional Joomla" by Dan Rahmel. It covers the same material plus a great deal more and it costs less money. It even gives more explanation and examples of building components, modules, and plugins, things "Learning Joomla" is supposed to focus on.